Why Rotors Instead of Wings ?
Written by Greg Gremminger Rotors are much less susceptible to wind turbulence: Spinning rotors have “high” wing loading. They fly at 300 mph and have respond to wind gusts much like hanging on a very long bungee cord. Stable airframes utilize rotor power and insensitivity to provide very minimal pilot workload and maximum security and comfort in wind turbulence that would keep most other aircraft on the ground. Rotors will not stall: Full attitude and flight control are available all the way to zero airspeed (or in vertical descents). Hard G-load turns have no concern for “accelerated stalls”. Very high control power: Because the pilot actually moves the rotor disk through powerful “cyclic” stick control, the pilot has many times more control authority than the wind has upon the rotorcraft. Pedal turn coordination is aerodynamically un-important because there are minimal yaw and no stall/spin concerns in rotorcraft – no “adverse yaw!” Very slow and short landing capability: Rotors, ev
